Five Ways to Welcome Change by Elizabeth Lesser

This is an excerpt from material written by Elizabeth Lesser found in an article for a local spiritual magazine:

"5 Ways to Welcome Change in the New Year

1. Expect Change - Because we live in a changing universe, expect change: good change, difficult change, destructive change and transformative change.

2. Make Friends with Change - Try not to fight change. Make unconditional friendship with it, in whatever form it arrives.

3. Relax into the Mystery - There is much more to this life than we can ever understand with our tiny brains and fearful hearts. So, in times of big change, it's good to be gentle, kind and patient with yourself and to relax. The best peacemakers are those who are at peace with themselves.

4. Receive Change's Message - Be still and listen deeply for the truth that is carried on its winds-information about the past, wisdom about the present and direction for the future.

5. Come Alive - Join forces with the dynamic flow of life. The African-American theologian Howard Thurman said" "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive."

And so, as the old year changes into the new year, ask what makes you come alive, and go do it-for your own sake, and in service of the greater good."